Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
March 8, 1994
(Phone: 202/358-0547)
RELEASE: 94-37
NASA/DOD TO ESTABLISH STANDARD QUALITY ASSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD) have instituted policies
that will lead to standardized requirements to improve the quality of
contractor-delivered products to both agencies.
"In many cases, government agencies rely on the same contractors
for products, but impose different quality requirements. This
results in increased inefficiencies and cost. Standard quality
requirements will result in improved contractor efficiencies at
reduced costs," said Fred Gregory, Associate Administrator for the
Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA).
Prior to the policies, a NASA and DOD joint working group
developed a handbook to provide guidance in using quality methods.
These standards were developed for international and national
agencies respectively to establish standard quality requirements.
"The uniqueness of NASA and DOD programs and our own strict
quality standards prevented using the national standards. However,
NASA and DOD's handbook and subsequent policies give approval to use
those quality standards. This will enable NASA and DOD contractors
to consolidate their quality procedures that will improve product
quality and enhance international competitiveness for our
contractors, " said Carl Schneider, Deputy Director, Engineering and
Quality Management.
NASA's requirements will enable the agency to maximize the use of
commercial specifications and standards for new programs, follow-on
procurements for existing programs and current contracts. These
requirements will include planning and engineering, inspection and
testing, product review, training and many other aspects of quality
control.
OSMA also is assessing other NASA safety and quality policies that
could be replaced with existing national non-government, DOD or
federal standards.
-end-